Personalized audio/video invitations for phone calls

ABSTRACT

A system and method for managing phone calls by enabling the call initiator to create a personalized audio or video invitation that the call recipient may review prior to accepting the call, which is immediately connected upon acceptance. Thus, prior to completion of the call, the call recipient may be comforted that the incoming call is one that should be taken or, conversely, one that may be safely avoided. The personalized audio or video invitation is created by the call initiator and is attached to the phone call data packet in place of the conventional Caller Id data packet. The call signaling may proceed in a conventional manner (e.g., using conventional client-server signaling) except that instead of providing a standard call with Caller Id as the sole identifying information, a data packet including the personalized audio or video invitation is provided to the call recipient to review prior to accepting the incoming call, as desired.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally totelecommunications and social networking platforms and, moreparticularly, but not by way of limitation, to systems and methods forproviding personalized audio/visual invitations for phone calls forreview prior to accepting a call.

BACKGROUND

In today's telecommunication environment, an incoming callconventionally contains a Caller Id as an identifier of the callingparty to the called party. The Caller Id enables the called party or thetelecommunications carrier to block the calling party using do-not-calllists or by presenting the name of the calling party to the calledparty's handset. However, multiple services allow the calling party tofake or spoof the Caller Id, thus rendering the Caller Id useless andtricking the called party into accepting the call. In suchcircumstances, the call recipient has limited options to either acceptor cancel the incoming call as no additional information is passed withthe call. Thus, when a personal cellphone receives a call from anunknown number, the called party's immediate reaction may be to notaccept the call. Unfortunately, important calls can be missed. On theother hand, when a business receives a call from any number, the call isimmediately answered and the business is forced to handle a number ofundesirable calls.

An alternative to Caller Id is desired that enables the called party todetermine whether or not to accept or deny the incoming call. Thesystems and methods described herein address these and other needs inthe art.

SUMMARY

The above and other needs in the art are addressed by providing apersonalized audio or video invitation with a phone call that the callrecipient may listen to/review prior to accepting the incoming call. Inaddition, the systems and methods described herein ensure that allsignaling information sent or received by a Subscriber is confirmed bysending an additional acknowledgement of the receipt of a response. Theacknowledgements and failures to acknowledge inform the communicationsserver of the state of the call so that the communications server canadjust its own state accordingly. In sample embodiments, thepersonalized audio or video invitation rides on an available internetconnection used to complete the call, and all intricacies of internetprotocols are hidden from the Subscriber.

A communication request in accordance with the disclosed systems andmethods is made with a personalized audio or video invitation that thecall recipient may review prior to accepting the call, which isimmediately connected upon acceptance. In this manner, the callrecipient may be comforted that the incoming call is one that should betaken or, conversely, one that may be safely avoided. The personalizedaudio or video recorded invitation is created by the call initiator andis attached to the phone call data packet in place of the conventionalCaller Id data packet. The call signaling may proceed in a conventionalmanner (e.g., using conventional client-server signaling) except thatinstead of providing a standard call with Caller Id as the soleidentifying information, a data packet including the personalized audioor video invitation is provided to the call recipient to review prior toaccepting the incoming call, as desired.

In sample embodiments, a method is provided for enabling call completionbased on the response to a personalized audio or video invitation from acall initiator. In a first embodiment, the call initiator'scommunication device records a personalized audio or video invitationthat typically describes the reason for the call and is provided withcall completion information (e.g., session description protocolinformation) that is needed to provide real-time communication with acall recipient. In a second embodiment, the personalized audio or videoinvitation is pre-recorded and called up for use as the personalizedaudio or video invitation. In either embodiment, the personalized audioor video invitation is sent with the call completion information to thecall recipient for review, and the call from the call initiator isplaced on hold while the personalized audio or video invitation is beingreviewed. The status of the review by the call recipient is received bythe call initiator and displayed so that the call initiator may monitorthe status of the review by the call recipient. Upon acceptance of thecall pursuant to review of the personalized audio or video invitation bythe call recipient, the call is completed and maintained until adisconnect request is received.

In other sample embodiments, the call recipient's communication devicereceives a call request including the personalized audio or videoinvitation from the call initiator. The call recipient then listens toor reviews the personalized audio or video invitation from the callinitiator and provides a notice to the call initiator that thepersonalized audio or video invitation is under review. Upon acceptanceof the call, the call recipient sends a response to the call initiatorindicating that the call has been accepted and the call is completed.The call is maintained until a disconnect request is received.

In still other sample embodiments, the communications described hereinare managed by software services implemented on a server. The serversoftware waits for a message from a Subscriber, such as a message fromthe call initiator including call initiation information and apersonalized audio or video invitation. Upon receipt of the message, themessage is parsed and the call initiation information and thepersonalized audio or video invitation are uploaded to a memory device.The message containing the recorded personalized audio or videoinvitation is passed on to the call recipient for consideration. Theserver then waits for status information from the call recipient such asan indication that the personalized audio or video invitation is beingreviewed. The status information is passed along to the call initiatorfor monitoring of the status of the consideration of the call request.Upon receipt of information from the call recipient that the invitationhas been accepted, the call initiator is notified that the call has beenaccepted and the call is completed. The call is maintained until adisconnect request is received and communicated to each Subscriber onthe call.

In a sample network configuration, the methods described herein areimplemented in a client-server configuration where the clients includemobile devices, VOIP phones, and the like adapted to include softwarethat enables the functionality of the call initiator and call recipienton the client devices. The server further includes software adapted tomanage the processing of the personalized audio or video invitation andestablishment of the call as described herein. The server may alsoimplement other functions such as managing profiles of Subscribers,managing searches for Subscribers, storing/streaming personalized audioor video invitations from the Subscribers, and the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various ones of the appended drawings merely illustrate exampleembodiments of the present disclosure and cannot be considered aslimiting its scope.

FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram illustrating a telecommunicationsnetwork adapted to implement the systems and methods described herein insample embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates the call flow for a personalized audio or videoinvitation sent in a sample embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a sample flow chart of the software implemented onthe call initiator's mobile smart phone.

FIG. 4 illustrates a sample flow chart of the software implemented onthe call recipient's mobile smart phone.

FIG. 5 illustrates a sample flow chart of the software implemented onone or more web servers to complete the call pursuant to acceptance of apersonalized audio or video invitation in a sample embodiment.

FIGS. 6a-6g illustrate screen shots of a call initiator's and a callrecipient's mobile smart phone completing a call using a personalizedvideo invitation in sample embodiments.

The headings provided herein are merely for convenience and do notnecessarily affect the scope or meaning of the terms used.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description of FIGS. 1-6 that follows includes systems, methods,techniques, instruction sequences, and computing machine programproducts that embody illustrative embodiments of the disclosure. In thefollowing description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide an understanding ofvarious embodiments of the inventive subject matter. It will be evident,however, to those skilled in the art, that embodiments of the inventivesubject matter may be practiced without these specific details. Ingeneral, well-known instruction instances, protocols, structures, andtechniques are not necessarily shown in detail.

In the various example embodiments of a personalized audio or videoinvitation for phone calls as described herein, the following disclosureuses the following naming conventions:

-   -   Subscriber—user of mobile smart phone and/or VOIP phone with        display;    -   MobiLine—a social network platform communications application        that enables Subscribers to use their phone to place and receive        a phone call with a personalized audio or video invitation;    -   Server—a back-end server that processes all requests from the        MobiLine application on the Subscribers' mobile smart phones;        and    -   Video—a series of visual images that typically, though not        necessarily, includes synchronized audio.

FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram illustrating a telecommunicationsnetwork 100 adapted to implement the systems and methods describedherein in sample embodiments. As illustrated, a Subscriber using mobilesmart phone 102 may communicate via mobile communications network 104with other mobile smart phones 106. In sample embodiments, theSubscribers may also communicate with VOIP phones and computers or otherphones 108 with the capability of listening to and watching personalizedaudio or video invitations as described herein. In sample embodiments,the mobile smart phones 100/106 and/or VOIP phones 108 download aMobiLine app as described herein to facilitate communication via webserver 110 that is adapted to provide the services described herein. Aswill be explained in more detail below, the web server 110 runs MobiLinesoftware that enables Subscribers to use their mobile smart phone toplace and receive a phone call with a personalized audio or visualinvitation that is created by the Subscribers and stored in audio/videodatabase 112 or created at the beginning of a call by the callingSubscriber. A caller database 114 keeps track of Subscribers to theMobiLine software system so that Subscribers may select otherSubscribers with whom to communicate using the techniques describedherein.

Installation and Registration Process

The Subscriber first installs the MobiLine app on his mobile smart phoneand then registers with the MobiLine service either through SMSverification (6-digit code is sent to the Subscriber's device) or withFacebook or other social media account credentials. In sampleembodiments, the Subscriber's telephone number is solely used for SMSverification process and is not tied to the application flow. Thesubscriber telephone number remains stored in the caller database 114and is never disclosed in any manner to another Subscriber.

During the registration process, the Subscriber enters Name, Gender,Date of Birth, and a picture. These entries define the profile of theSubscriber. The Subscriber also may optionally record an introductoryaudio or a video profile recording for inclusion in his profile. TheSubscriber retains full control of their account at all times. Therecorded Subscriber name facilitates others to search for Subscribers byname. The recorded introductory audio or video profile recording may beplayed to other Subscribers when they browse for Subscribers and searchfor specific services.

Call Initiation

After the registration process, the Subscriber is provided with a listof registered Subscribers of the MobiLine service. The Subscriber canbrowse or search for other Subscriber(s), watch pre-recordedintroductory video profile recordings, or listen to pre-recordedintroductory audio profile recordings. The Subscriber also can searchand filter for particular services using search options.

Once a Subscriber has identified a party to be contacted from the listof Subscribers, the Subscriber can place a real-time call or send amessage through the MobiLine service. The receiving Subscriber isimmediately notified of the call or message.

FIG. 2 illustrates the call flow for a call set up using a personalizedaudio or video invitation sent in a sample embodiment. To place a call,Subscriber A (call initiator) records a unique personalized audio orvideo invitation at 200 that consists of a recorded personalized audioor video invitation to be played by the call recipient before acceptingthe call. Typically, the user may use the record features of his mobilesmart phone to record the invitation. Conversely, the Subscriber A mayhave a pre-stored personalized audio or video invitation that isaccessed to send as the invitation. Within the recorded personalizedaudio or video invitation, the Subscriber typically provides adescription of the reason for the call. Subscriber A's call is placed onhold once the recorded personalized audio or video invitation is sent.The recorded personalized audio or video invitation is parsed by theMobiLine service and uploaded by the web server 110 to a storage devicesuch as A/V database 112 at 202 along with recipient information and SDP(session description protocol) information. In sample embodiments, theSDP information contains details of a call initiator session includingthe unique message Id. SDP allows all end points to effectivelyparticipate in a session. The session is initiated when the connectionis first established and is terminated when all of the end points havestopped participating. This process facilitates the maintenance ofreal-time communication over available internet connections. To ensureconnection across various types of networks, STUN and ICE mechanisms aredeployed. To provide a fail proof scenario, additional specificationsare added to the RTP network stack. In sample embodiments, thepersonalized recorded audio and video invitations are binary files andmaintained with base64 encoding. Also, enhanced authenticationmechanisms further prevent problems with non-complaint mp4 files. At204, the web server 110 acknowledges the request and returns the samemessage Id. At 206, the web server 110 sends a notification request toSubscriber B (call recipient) using the MobiLine service and includesthe recorded personalized audio or video invitation provided bySubscriber A along with the SDP information. The request is also sentwith the unique message Id for the session. At 208, Subscriber B sendsan acknowledgement of receipt of the response including the message Idalong with the SDP information to the web server 110. The web server 110sends the received information to Subscriber A, including the SDPinformation and unique message Id at 210. Subscriber A acknowledgesreceipt of the request with the same message Id at 212.

Subscriber B then watches the personalized video invitation or listensto the personalized audio invitation. As noted above, the recordedinvitation provides Subscriber B with details of the calling party andthe purpose of the call. Subscriber B is given the option on hisMobiLine app to accept the call, reply with a video or audio message, orcancel the incoming call. Once Subscriber B makes a selection, theselection is provided to the web server 110 at 214 with the message Id,which is acknowledged by web server 110 at 216 with the message Id. Callprogress status is updated on Subscriber A's MobiLine app by sending theselection and the message Id to Subscriber A at 218. Subscriber A isalso informed when their personalized audio or video invitation is beinglistened to or viewed by Subscriber B. Subscriber A acknowledges receiptof the selection information to the web server 110 at 220 again with themessage Id. If Subscriber B elected to receive the call, the call iscompleted at 222 and Subscriber A and Subscriber B are enabled tocontinue instant audio or video real-time communication in aconventional fashion as the SDP information has already been provided toboth Subscribers. On the other hand, if Subscriber B elects not toaccept the call, the incoming call request is canceled and the webserver 110 notifies Subscriber A that the call was not accepted.Conversely, Subscriber B may record a message and send the recordedmessage to Subscriber A using the same techniques as described above forthe initial invitation. As noted above, the call is initiated andcompleted without exposing the telephone number of either Subscriber tothe other Subscriber as the Subscribers' phone number remains in callerdatabase 114 for access only by web server 110. The Subscribers'telephone numbers are used solely for the SMS verification process andare not tied to the call flow described herein.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the SDP information isused to define the communication end points for the call initiator andcall recipient. MobiLine implements handling of SDP information betweensubscribers to allow a fast handshaking during live connection. For alive request, the call initiator processes and accumulates SDPinformation required for a live connection, and information is sent tothe live request recipient with the recorded personalized audio or videoinvitation. The live request recipient acknowledges the incoming liverequest and parses the incoming information. The live request recipientfurther accumulates SDP information required for the live connection,and information is sent to the live request call initiator. Mutualtransfer of SDP information defines all parameters for successful liveconnectivity between both Subscribers. When a live request recipientpresses “Accept Request”, the physical access to microphone and speakeris enabled and both Subscribers are connected live. This remarkablyreduces handshaking and connectivity time duration between Subscribers.

In sample embodiments, the SDP information is sent from the callinitiator (Subscriber A) to the web server 110 where the SDP informationis acknowledged and sent to the call recipient (Subscriber B) andacknowledged by the call recipient. Similarly, the call recipient maysend SDP information to the web server 110 where the SDP information isacknowledged and sent to the call initiator and acknowledged by the callinitiator. Once the call is established, the connection is maintaineduntil the SDP information includes a call disconnect request, which isacknowledged by the web server 110 and the other party in the samefashion.

The respective Subscribers may also receive additional services from theMobiLine software such as sending audio message, sending video messages,sending text messages, sending picture messages, or sending geo-locationinformation to the other Subscribers. A Subscriber may also addlike-minded Subscribers and friends to their favorites. A Subscriber mayfurther administer their message inbox with messages sent or received.The MobiLine app also enables the respective Subscribers to maintainmultiple virtual locations, which enables the Subscribers to, forexample, search for services and/or other Subscribers in differentlocations.

FIG. 3 illustrates a sample flow chart of the software implemented onthe call initiator's mobile smart phone. As illustrated, at 300 the callinitiator elects to record a personalized audio or video invitation forthe call recipient, typically using the camera and recording features ofthe call initiator's mobile smart phone. Optionally, the call initiatormay use a pre-recorded audio or video invitation stored on the callinitiator's mobile smart phone or on the audio/video database 112. At304, the recorded audio or video invitation is sent to the web server110 and the initiator's call is placed on hold. The call initiator'scall remains on hold until a message is received at 306 indicating thatthe called party is reviewing the recorded invitation. The initiator'scall is again placed on hold until a response message from the callrecipient is received at 308. If it is determined at 310 that the callrecipient has elected to not receive the call, the call request iscanceled at 312. However, if the call recipient has elected to acceptthe call, the call is completed at 314. The call is maintained until adisconnect request is received at 316. Upon receipt of a disconnectrequest, the call is ended at 318.

FIG. 4 illustrates a sample flow chart of the software implemented onthe call recipient's mobile smart phone. As illustrated, at 400 the callrecipient's mobile smart phone receives a call request with apersonalized audio or video invitation. If the call recipient elects tolisten to or view the personalized audio or video invitation, then at402 the call recipient listens to or views the personalized audio orvideo invitation and the call recipient's mobile smart phone notifiesthe web server 110 that the personalized audio or video invitation isbeing reviewed. At 404, the call recipient decides whether or not toaccept the call. If not, at 406 the call recipient may elect to send areply message. If the call recipient elects to send a reply message, thereply message is recorded and sent at 408 using a similar process asused by the call initiator, in which a recording audio or video messageis uploaded to web server 110 along with the reply message details. Theincoming call request from the call initiator is then canceled at 410.On the other hand, if the call recipient elects to receive the call at404, a response accepting the call is sent to the web server 110 at 412and the call is completed at 414. The call is maintained until adisconnect request is received at 416, and the call is ended at 418.

FIG. 5 illustrates a sample flow chart of the software implemented onthe web server 110 to complete the call with a personalized audio orvideo invitation in a sample embodiment. As illustrated, the web server110 implementing the MobiLine services waits for a message at 500. Oncea message is received, the message is parsed and uploaded by the webserver 110 to the A/V database 112 along with the call information at502. The message is then forwarded to the call recipient at 504. The webserver 110 then waits until a notification is received that the callrecipient is listening to and/or watching the personalized audio orvideo invitation at 506. Upon receipt of an indication from the callrecipient that the invitation is being reviewed, the call initiator isnotified at 508 that the invitation is under review. The web server 110then waits at 510 for an indication from the call recipient regardingwhether or not the call will be accepted. If the call recipient does notaccept the call, the web server 110 notifies the call initiator at 512that the call has not been accepted. The call is then canceled at 514.However, if it is determined at 510 that the call recipient has acceptedthe call, the web server 110 notifies the call initiator at 516 that thecall has been accepted. The call is then completed at 518. The callremains active until a disconnect request is received at 520, at whichtime the parties are notified of the disconnect request at 522. The callends at 524.

The Subscriber's interactions with the MobiLine app will now bedescribed with respect to FIGS. 6a-6g , which illustrate screen shotsfrom the MobiLine app on a call initiator's mobile smart phone and on acall recipient's mobile smart phone while completing a call using apersonalized video invitation in sample embodiments. In particular,FIGS. 6a-6g illustrate the graphical user interfaces presented to theSubscribers during the interactions noted above during the processing ofa personalized video invitation to initiate a call. The graphical userinterfaces presented to the Subscribers during the processing of apersonalized audio invitation to initiate a call are very similar andwill not be discussed herein.

As shown in FIG. 6a , the initial screen of the MobiLine app enables aSubscriber to search for other Subscribers to contact and to search forpreviously tagged Subscribers. In sample embodiments, the discoverfunctionality provides a rich interface with actions to search andbrowse for introductory audio or video profile greeting recordings ofother Subscribers. The “Discover” feature allows Subscribers to browseother Subscribers' introductory video or audio greetings as per selectedcategory. The “People” feature allows Subscribers to search for otherSubscribers by name, while the “Tags” feature allows Subscribers tosearch and browse for other Subscribers based on hashtags. Asillustrated in FIG. 6a , the Subscriber on the Explore Screen isprovided with the following Actions:

-   -   1. Invite friends: used to invite friends from the contact list        or other social app;    -   2. Filters: sets user specific distance, age, gender, and search        category;    -   3. Report User: used to flag an inappropriate introduction        greeting by blocking or “report a user” feature;    -   4. Add to favorite: a listed subscriber can be added to a user's        favorite list;    -   5. Play: listed subscriber introductory greeting can be        played/re-played;    -   6. Thumbs up: allows Subscriber to up-vote or down-vote;    -   7. Explore: current screen;    -   8. Messages: used to browse user message(s) list; also shows        counter of unread messages grouped by user;    -   9. Button M: an action button that changes functionality based        on screen and possible actions; under current screen it is used        to initiate Live Request or Send Message to a listed user;    -   10. History: used to browse user live request(s) list;    -   11. Profile: allows Subscriber to modify profile, modify        video/audio greetings, and to modify settings.

Prior to initiating a call, the call initiator (Subscriber A—left sideof FIG. 6b ) may browse for known Subscribers or other Subscribers basedon the call initiator's preference (Age, Gender, Location). Uponselection of a Subscriber found in the search, the call initiator(Subscriber A) listens to/watches pre-recorded introductory audio orvideo profile recordings from the profiles of the selected Subscribersas illustrated in FIG. 6b . Once the call initiator (Subscriber A) findsa recipient for a conversation, the call initiator clicks the MobiLineapp icon (M button) to create a personalized audio or video invitationfor the selected Subscriber. Subscriber A sees the screen of FIG. 6c andis requested to record a video or audio live request that will be sentto Subscriber B. The Subscriber (Call Initiator) selects one of thefollowing:

Audio Connect: personalized audio invitation will be sent to recipient,while initiator waits for live connection;

Video Connect: personalized video invitation will be sent to recipient,while initiator waits for live connection;

Send Video: personalized video message will be sent to recipient, whileinitiator proceeds to Discover;

Send Audio: personalized audio message will be sent to recipient, whileinitiator proceeds to Discover.

Once the user selected the desired message type (e.g. Video Connect),the Subscriber then starts the recording process. The mobile smartphone's camera and audio recording circuitry is enabled and theinitiating Subscriber is prompted to record a personalized audio orvideo invitation to send to the selected Subscriber to ask the selectedSubscriber to join in a live private conversation. The call initiatorrecords the message, and the MobiLine app provides a visualrepresentation of the duration of the message being recorded. To stoprecording, Subscriber A clicks on a “Stop” button. The call initiatorcan replay the recorded personalized audio or video invitation. If notsatisfied, the call initiator may click “delete” and re-record thepersonalized audio or video invitation. To cancel the call request, thecall initiator may select “cancel” to cancel the request and return tothe discover screen. Alternatively, the call initiator may elect to sendthe recorded invitation to the selected Subscriber by selecting “sendintroductory message.”

From the home screen of the MobiLine app, the Subscriber may also reviewmessages, check his connections history, and update his Subscriberprofile, filters, or settings, including the stored introductory audioor video profile recordings that other Subscribers will receive inresponse to a search, along with the Subscriber's picture. TheSubscriber may also add/change/remove a location based on city andcountry name, may exclude a specific Subscriber listing by implementinga blocking or “report a user” feature. Alternatively, another Subscriberthat is contacted frequently can be added to a Favorites List.

After the call initiator sends the personalized audio or videoinvitation to the call recipient (Subscriber B), the call initiator(Subscriber A) waits for a response from the call recipient as discussedabove. In sample embodiments, a timer or other indicator may be used toreflect the progress of the request. As noted above, the call initiatoris notified when the personalized audio or video invitation is underreview by the call recipient and a timer (if provided) may startcounting. A sample interface for the call initiator while awaiting theresponse from the call recipient is shown in FIG. 6 d.

The call recipient (Subscriber B) receives the notification of theincoming live call request and receives the call initiator's detailsalong with the personalized audio or video invitation for review. Asample interface for the call recipient upon receipt of the invitationis shown in FIG. 6e . As illustrated in FIG. 6e , the call recipient isgiven the option to play the invitation by clicking on the “Play”button. Selecting “Play” also initiates notification to the callinitiator that the call recipient is reviewing the invitation. Afterreview of the personalized audio or video invitation, the call recipientcan opt to replay the message or to select one of the options ofrejecting the request to cancel the incoming request, replying with amessage, or accepting the request. If the request is accepted byclicking “Accept Request,” the call initiator is notified that theinvitation has been accepted and the Subscribers proceed immediately toa live one-to-one communication. The respective Subscribers then see aninterface such as that illustrated in FIG. 6f for the duration of thecall.

For the duration of the call, each Subscriber may elect to stop thevideo and continue the call on audio alone. The Subscriber also can swapthe camera from front camera to back and vice versa and optionally mutethe microphone as during conventional calls. The Subscriber can stop thelive connection at any time by electing to disconnect the call. If aSubscriber switches off/on the camera, the other Subscriber may receiveappropriate notification. The call may then proceed with the otherSubscriber's picture in the middle of the screen. In sample embodiments,during a live video connect, the Subscriber's video feed is displayed onthe full screen with the current Subscriber's video feed in a smallcircular video display. Video feed screens for a Subscriber can beswapped by clicking on the video feed. The full screen video feed can beminimized with a swipe from top to bottom, which enables the liveconnect session to proceed and for other tasks to be performed inparallel on the MobiLine app. Also, the Subscriber may elect to move thesmaller image across the screen as desired.

When a call is completed, a Subscriber may disconnect the liveconnection. The MobiLine app then returns to its previous state toenable the Subscriber to continue browsing for greetings and to initiatelive requests or send messages.

It will be appreciated that a call recipient may not be in the MobiLineApp at the time an invitation is received from the call initiator. Insuch cases, the MobiLine services web server 110 searches for the callrecipient (Subscriber B). If the call recipient is not on the MobiLineapp, then the MobiLine service generates a Push notification and sends alive request notification to the call recipient as illustrated in theright side of FIG. 6g . Once the call recipient plays the personalizedaudio or video invitation, the call initiator (Subscriber A) is sonotified as discussed above. The call recipient (Subscriber B) canextend the incoming Push request without activating the MobiLine app andcan listen to and/or watch the incoming personalized audio or videoinvitation and then further Accept, or Reply with a Message or Rejectrequest as noted above. Once the call recipient accepts the callrequest, the MobiLine app is initiated and the process proceeds asdiscussed above with respect to the screenshots of FIGS. 6e -6 f.

The same process is used when a personalized audio invitation is used toinitiate a phone call. In this case, the call initiator (Subscriber A)can initiate a live call request using a personalized audio invitation.All processes as described above remain the same except that thepersonalized video invitation is replaced by a personalized audioinvitation of the call initiator (Subscriber A). The personalized audioinvitation optionally may be sent with a picture of the call initiator.The call initiator awaits the response from the call recipient asdescribed above in connection with a live video call invitation.

System Architecture

FIG. 1 illustrates an example a high-level client-server-based networkarchitecture 100. As illustrated, the system 100 provides server-sidefunctionality via a network 104 (e.g., the Internet or wide area network(WAN)) to one or more client devices 102, 106, and 108. As will beappreciated by those skilled in the art, each client device 102, 106,and 108 conventionally includes a web client, an application such as theMobiLine app described herein, a memory that stores instructions andapplication data, and a processor for implementing those instructions.

In sample embodiments, the client devices 102, 106 and 108 may comprise,but are not limited to, a mobile smart phone, desktop computer, laptop,portable digital assistants (PDAs), smart phones, tablets, ultra-books,netbooks, laptops, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, game consoles, set-top boxes, oranother communication device that a user may utilize to access thenetworked system 100. In some embodiments, the client device 102, 106,and 108 may comprise a display module (not shown) to display information(e.g., in the form of user interfaces). In further embodiments, theclient device 102, 106, and 108 may comprise one or more of touchscreens, accelerometers, gyroscopes, cameras, microphones, globalpositioning system (GPS) devices, and so forth. One or more users may bea person, a machine, or other means of interacting with client device102, 106, and 108. In embodiments, the user is not part of the networkarchitecture 100, but may interact with the network architecture 100 viaclient device 102, 106, and 108 or another means. For example, one ormore portions of network 104 may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, anextranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), awireless LAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), ametropolitan area network (MAN), a portion of the Internet, a portion ofthe Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a cellular telephonenetwork, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi network, a WiMAX network, anothertype of network, or a combination of two or more such networks.

Each of the client devices 102, 106, and 108 may include one or moreapplications (also referred to as “apps”) such as, but not limited to, aweb browser, messaging application, electronic mail (email) application,the MobiLine app referenced herein, and the like.

In sample embodiments, the web server 110 may provide programmatic andweb interfaces respectively to one or more application servers (notshown) that are, in turn, coupled to one or more database servers (notshown) to facilitate access to databases 112 and 114. In exampleembodiments, the databases 112 and 114 store digital data representativeof the Subscriber profiles and audio/visual invitations as describedherein. Further, while the client-server-based network architecture 100shown in FIG. 1 employs a client-server architecture, the presentinventive subject matter is of course not limited to such anarchitecture, and could equally well find application in a distributed,or peer-to-peer, architecture system, for example.

Certain embodiments are described herein as including logic or a numberof components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules may constitute eithersoftware modules (e.g., code embodied on a machine-readable medium) orhardware modules. A “hardware module” is a tangible unit capable ofperforming certain operations and may be configured or arranged in acertain physical manner. In various example embodiments, one or morecomputer systems (e.g., a standalone computer system, a client computersystem, or a server computer system) or one or more hardware modules ofa computer system (e.g., a processor or a group of processors) may beconfigured by software (e.g., an application or application portion) asa hardware module that operates to perform certain operations asdescribed herein.

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions describedherein. As used herein, “processor-implemented module” refers to ahardware module implemented using one or more processors.

Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented, with a particular processor or processors beingan example of hardware. For example, at least some of the operations ofa method may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented modules. Moreover, the one or more processors mayalso operate to support performance of the relevant operations in a“cloud computing” environment or as a “software as a service” (SaaS).For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a groupof computers (as examples of machines including processors), with theseoperations being accessible via a network (e.g., the Internet) and viaone or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., an Application ProgramInterface (API)).

The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe processors, not only residing within a single machine, but deployedacross a number of machines. In some example embodiments, the processorsor processor-implemented modules may be located in a single geographiclocation (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment, or aserver farm). In other example embodiments, the processors orprocessor-implemented modules may be distributed across a number ofgeographic locations.

Software architectures are used in conjunction with hardwarearchitectures to create devices and machines tailored to particularpurposes. For example, a particular hardware architecture coupled with aparticular software architecture will create a mobile device, such as amobile smart phone, tablet device, or so forth. A slightly differenthardware and software architecture may yield a smart device, while yetanother combination produces a server computer for use within a cloudcomputing architecture. Not all combinations of such software andhardware architectures are presented here as those of skill in the artcan readily understand how to implement the invention in differentcontexts from the disclosure contained herein.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the processes describedherein with respect to FIGS. 1-6 may be implemented on respective mobiledevices including processors adapted to process instructions from acomputer readable medium for implementing the indicated processes suchas those described with respect to FIGS. 3 and 4 and on a processingdevice such as a web server 110 including a processor or processorsadapted to process instructions from a computer readable medium forimplementing the indicated processes such as those described withrespect to FIG. 5. As used herein, “machine-readable medium” means adevice able to store instructions and data temporarily or permanentlyand may include, but is not be limited to, random-access memory (RAM),read-only memory (ROM), buffer memory, flash memory, optical media,magnetic media, cache memory, other types of storage (e.g., ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and/or a suitable combinationthereof. The term “machine-readable medium” should be taken to include asingle medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributeddatabase, or associated caches and servers) able to store instructions.The term “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include anymedium, or combination of multiple media, that is capable of storinginstructions for execution by a machine (e.g., web server 110), suchthat the instructions, when executed by one or more processors of themachine cause the machine to perform one or more of the methodologiesdescribed herein. Accordingly, a “machine-readable medium” refers to asingle storage apparatus or device, as well as “cloud-based” storagesystems or storage networks that include multiple storage apparatus ordevices. The term “machine-readable medium” excludes signals per se.

The I/O components of the mobile devices may include a wide variety ofcomponents to receive input, provide output, produce output, transmitinformation, exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. Thespecific I/O components that are included in a particular mobile devicewill depend on the type of mobile device. For example, mobile smartphones likely include a touch input device or other such inputmechanisms. It will be appreciated that the I/O components may includemany other components that are not shown in the figures.

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components of the mobile devices 102, 106, for example, mayinclude communication components operable to couple the mobile device102, 106 to mobile communication network 104 or devices such as webserver 110. For example, the communication components may include anetwork interface component or other suitable device to interface withthe mobile communication network 104. In further examples, communicationcomponents may include wired communication components, wirelesscommunication components, cellular communication components, Near FieldCommunication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth®Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components toprovide communication via other modalities. The mobile devices 102, 106also may include any of a wide variety of peripheral devices (e.g., aperipheral device coupled via a Universal Serial Bus (USB)). Inaddition, a variety of information may be derived via the communicationcomponents such as location via Internet Protocol (IP) geo-location,location via Wi-Fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting a NFCbeacon signal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth.

In various example embodiments, one or more portions of the mobilecommunication network 104 may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, anextranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), awireless LAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), ametropolitan area network (MAN), the Internet, a portion of theInternet, a portion of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), aplain old telephone service (POTS) network, a cellular telephonenetwork, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi® network, another type of network,or a combination of two or more such networks. For example, the mobilecommunication network 104 or a portion of the mobile communicationnetwork 104 may include a wireless or cellular network and a couplingincluding a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, a GlobalSystem for Mobile communications (GSM) connection, or other type ofcellular or wireless coupling. In this example, the coupling mayimplement any of a variety of types of data transfer technology, such asSingle Carrier Radio Transmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-DataOptimized (EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)technology, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology,third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourthgeneration wireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE)standard, others defined by various standard setting organizations,other long range protocols, or other data transfer technology.

The information and instructions transmitted or received over the mobilecommunications network 104 may use a transmission medium via a networkinterface device (e.g., a network interface component included in thecommunication components) and utilize one of a number of well-knowntransfer protocols (e.g., hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)).Similarly, the information and instructions may be transmitted orreceived using a transmission medium via coupling devices.

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures andfunctionality presented as separate components in example configurationsmay be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly,structures and functionality presented as a single component may beimplemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Although an overview of the inventive subject matter has been describedwith reference to specific example embodiments, various modificationsand changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader scope of embodiments of the present disclosure. Such embodimentsof the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein, individuallyor collectively, by the term “invention” merely for convenience andwithout intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application toa single disclosure or inventive concept if more than one is, in fact,disclosed.

The embodiments illustrated herein are described in sufficient detail toenable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed.Other embodiments may be used and derived therefrom, such thatstructural and logical substitutions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure. The Detailed Description,therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope ofvarious embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along withthe full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

As used herein, the term “or” may be construed in either an inclusive orexclusive sense. Moreover, plural instances may be provided forresources, operations, or structures described herein as a singleinstance. Additionally, boundaries between various resources,operations, modules, engines, and data stores are somewhat arbitrary,and particular operations are illustrated in a context of specificillustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality areenvisioned and may fall within a scope of various embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In general, structures and functionality presentedas separate resources in the example configurations may be implementedas a combined structure or resource. Similarly, structures andfunctionality presented as a single resource may be implemented asseparate resources. These and other variations, modifications,additions, and improvements fall within a scope of embodiments of thepresent disclosure as represented by the appended claims. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for providing the identity of acall initiator prior to acceptance of a call by a call recipient,comprising: prior to initiating the call, the call initiator'scommunication device recording a personalized audio or video invitationfrom the call initiator and, upon completion of the recording, the callinitiator's communication device initiating the call by providing a callrequest message including the personalized audio or video invitationfrom the call initiator and call completion information needed toprovide real-time communication with the call recipient's communicationdevice prior to and after acceptance of the call; the call initiatorreceiving from the call recipient an indication of the progress of thereview of the personalized audio or video invitation by the callrecipient; initiating a timer on the call initiator's communicationdevice that starts counting upon receipt of the indication that the callrecipient has started reviewing the personalized audio or videoinvitation; and upon receipt of a notification from the call recipientthat the call is accepted pursuant to review of the personalized audioor video invitation by the call recipient, enabling a live voiceconnection between the call initiator and call recipient using the callcompletion information.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thepersonalized audio or video invitation includes an explanation of areason for the call.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the callcompletion information comprises session description protocol data and amessage ID that is unique to the call.
 4. A method for providing theidentity of a call initiator prior to acceptance of a call by a callrecipient, comprising: a call recipient's communication device receivinga call request message including a personalized audio or videoinvitation from the call initiator and call completion informationneeded to provide real-time communication with the call initiator'scommunication device prior to and after acceptance of the call; the callrecipient's communication device presenting the personalized audio orvideo invitation for review to determine whether or not to accept arequest for a call from the call initiator; the call recipient'scommunication device providing an indication to the call initiator ofthe progress of the review of the personalized audio or video invitationby the call recipient; the indication from the call recipient'scommunication device indicating the call recipient has started reviewingthe personalized audio or video invitation initiating a timer on thecall initiator's communication device that starts counting to indicatethe progress of the review of the personalized audio or video invitationby the call recipient; providing an indication of acceptance of therequest for the call to the call initiator; and enabling a live voiceconnection between the call initiator and call recipient using the callcompletion information.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein thepersonalized audio or video invitation includes an explanation of areason for the call.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the callcompletion information comprises session description protocol data and amessage ID that is unique to the call.
 7. A method for providing theidentity of a call initiator prior to acceptance of a call by a callrecipient, comprising: a server receiving a call request messageincluding a personalized audio or video invitation from the callinitiator and call completion information needed to provide real-timecommunication between the call initiator to the call recipient prior toand after acceptance of the call; the server parsing the call requestmessage and uploading the call completion information and thepersonalized audio or video invitation to a storage device; the serverproviding the call request message to the call recipient for evaluation;the server providing an indication to the call initiator of the progressof the review of the personalized audio or video invitation by the callrecipient; initiating a timer on the call initiator's communicationdevice that starts counting upon receipt of the indication that the callrecipient has started reviewing the personalized audio or videoinvitation; upon receipt of an indication of acceptance by the callrecipient of the call initiator's request for a call, the servernotifying the call initiator that the call recipient has accepted thecall in response to the personalized audio or video invitation; andenabling a live voice connection between the call initiator and callrecipient using the call completion information.
 8. The method of claim7, wherein the personalized audio or video invitation includes anexplanation of a reason for the call.
 9. The method of claim 7, whereinthe call completion information comprises session description protocoldata and a message ID that is unique to the call.
 10. A communicationsystem that provides the identity of a call initiator prior toacceptance of a call by a call recipient, comprising: a call initiatingcommunication device adapted to record a personalized audio or videoinvitation from the call initiator and, upon completion of therecording, to initiate the call by providing a call request messageincluding the personalized audio or video invitation from the callinitiator and call completion information needed to provide real-timecommunication with the call recipient's communication device prior toand after acceptance of the call; a call receiving communication deviceadapted to enable the call recipient to review the personalized audio orvideo invitation to determine whether to accept the call; and a serveradapted to manage communication between the call initiatingcommunication device and the call receiving communication device duringevaluation of the personalized audio or video invitation prior toestablishment of the call and to enable a live voice connection betweenthe call initiator and call recipient using the call completioninformation upon acceptance of the call by the call recipient, whereinthe call initiating communication device receives from the callreceiving communication device an indication of the progress of thereview of the personalized audio or video invitation by the callrecipient and displays the indication to a display of the callinitiating communication device; wherein the call initiatingcommunication device further comprises a timer that starts counting uponreceipt of the indication that the call recipient has started reviewingthe personalized audio or video invitation.
 11. The communication systemof claim 10, wherein the server is further adapted to manage profiles ofsubscribers, to manage searches for subscribers, and to storeintroductory audio or video profile recordings from the subscribers,wherein the call initiator searches the profiles of subscribers toidentify the call recipient.
 12. The communication system of claim 10,wherein the call initiating communication device comprises a recordingdevice that records the personalized audio or video invitation from thecall initiator for inclusion in the call request message.
 13. Thecommunication system of claim 10, wherein the personalized audio orvideo invitation includes an explanation of a reason for the call. 14.The communication system of claim 10, wherein the call completioninformation comprises session description protocol data and a message IDthat is unique to the call.
 15. The communication system of claim 10,wherein the call initiating communication device receives and displaysstatus information from the call receiving communication device toindicate to the call initiator a status of the review of thepersonalized audio or video invitation by the call recipient.
 16. Thecommunication system of claim 10, wherein the server receives the callrequest message including the personalized audio or video invitation andcall completion information needed to provide real-time communicationfrom the call initiating communication device, parses the call requestmessage and uploads the call completion information and the personalizedaudio or video invitation to a storage device, provides the call requestmessage to the call receiving communication device for evaluation by thecall recipient, receives an indication of acceptance by the callrecipient of the call initiator's request for a call, notifies the callinitiating communication device that the call recipient has accepted thecall in response to the personalized audio or video invitation, andenables a live voice connection between the call initiator and callrecipient using the call completion information.
 17. The method of claim1, wherein enabling a live voice connection between the call initiatorand call recipient using the call completion information furthercomprises: a server receiving the call request message including thepersonalized audio or video invitation and call completion informationneeded to provide real-time communication between the call initiator andthe call recipient prior to and after acceptance of the call; the serverparsing the call request message and uploading the call completioninformation and the personalized audio or video invitation to a storagedevice; the server providing the call request message to the callrecipient for evaluation; and upon receipt of an indication ofacceptance by the call recipient of the call initiator's request for acall, notifying the call initiator that the call recipient has acceptedthe call in response to the personalized audio or video invitation. 18.The method of claim 4, wherein enabling a live voice connection betweenthe call initiator and call recipient using the call completioninformation further comprises: a server receiving the call requestmessage including the personalized audio or video invitation and callcompletion information needed to provide real-time communication betweenthe call initiator and the call recipient prior to and after acceptanceof the call; the server parsing the call request message and uploadingthe call completion information and the personalized audio or videoinvitation to a storage device; the server providing the call requestmessage to the call recipient for evaluation; and upon receipt of anindication of acceptance by the call recipient of the call initiator'srequest for a call, notifying the call initiator that the call recipienthas accepted the call in response to the personalized audio or videoinvitation.
 19. The method of claim 1, wherein enabling a live voiceconnection between the call initiator and call recipient comprisesenabling physical access to a microphone and speaker of the callinitiator's communication device and the call recipient's communicationdevice.
 20. The method of claim 4, wherein enabling a live voiceconnection between the call initiator and call recipient comprisesenabling physical access to a microphone and speaker of the callinitiator's communication device and the call recipient's communicationdevice.
 21. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating the call byproviding a call request message including the personalized audio orvideo invitation from the call initiator comprises the call initiator'scommunication device generating a push notification and sending a liverequest notification including the personalized audio or videoinvitation to the call recipient.
 22. The method of claim 21, furthercomprising the call initiator's communication device receiving anaccept, reject, or reply with a message from the call recipient'scommunication device in response to the push notification.
 23. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the call recipient's communication devicereceiving a call request message including a personalized audio or videoinvitation from the call initiator comprises the call recipient'scommunication device receiving a push notification including a liverequest notification including the personalized audio or videoinvitation.
 24. The method of claim 23, further comprising the callrecipient's communication device providing an accept, reject, or replywith a message to the call recipient's communication device in responseto the push notification.
 25. The communication system of claim 10,wherein the call initiating communication device initiates the call bygenerating a push notification and sending a live request notificationincluding the personalized audio or video invitation to the callrecipient.
 26. The communication system of claim 25, wherein the callinitiator's communication device receives an accept, reject, or replywith a message from the call recipient's communication device inresponse to the push notification.